Amazon to allow customers sue after thousands of Alexa complaints

Amazon has stopped requiring customers to pursue claims in arbitration -- rather than a court of law -- after tens of thousands of people inundated the company with complaints that the Alexa digital assistant was improperly collecting voice recordings.

Amazon’s terms of service, which govern everything from buying products on the company’s web store to using its consumer gadgets, now lets customers file class-action suits against the company in state or federal court. Previously claimants had to enter arbitration as individuals. All cases must be filed in King County, Washington.

The change follows the filing of some 75,000 Alexa-related arbitration claims -- almost entirely from people represented by Chicago law firm Keller Lenkner LLC -- in the last 16 months. The cases likely added up to tens of millions of dollars in filing fees payable by Amazon.

The avalanche of litigation followed news reports, by Bloomberg News and others, outlining the extent to which Amazon was collecting data and conducting analysis of voice recordings picked up by its popular Echo smart speakers.

Amazon, like many large companies, has long insisted on arbitration. Such proceedings were designed to unclog the judicial system and provide a cheaper way to settle business disputes. But critics say arbitration can help companies avoid potentially costly class-action suits and sometimes prevents shoppers from holding companies accountable.

At issue in the wave of claims against Amazon is the Alexa digital assistant, which powers Echo smart speakers and a growing range of other gadgets. Travis Lenkner, the managing partner with the firm that brought most of the cases, says Alexa stores voice recordings of unwitting parties by default and, in some cases, violates state wiretapping laws.

Lenkner said some 24,000 claims have reached the stage where both parties have paid initial fees, and in roughly 3,000, arbitrators have been assigned to hear the cases. The firm used online advertising and marketing tools to reach potential claimants. Amazon says it stores voice recordings to personalize and improve its software and that users can delete their records from the software.